More Heaven than Earth

“No winter and no night.”

Some time now past in the autumnal tide,When Phoebus wanted but one hour to bed,The trees all richly clad, yet void of pride,Were gilded o’er by his rich golden head.Their leaves and fruits seemed painted, but was true,Of green, of red, of yellow, mixed hue;Rapt were my senses at this delectable view.

I wist not what to wish, yet sure thought I,If so much excellence abide below,How excellent is He that dwells on high,Whose power and beauty by His works we know?Sure He is goodness, wisdom, glory, light,That hath this under world so richly dight;More heaven than earth was here, no winter and no night.

Then on a stately oak I cast mine eye,Whose ruffling top the clouds seemed to aspire;How long since thou wast in thine infancy?Thy strength, and stature, more thy years admire,Hath hundred winters past since thou wast born?Or thousand since thou brakest thy shell of horn?If so, all these as nought, eternity doth scorn.

Then higher on the glistering Sun I gazed.Whose beams was shaded by the leafy tree;The more I looked, the more I grew amazed,And softly said, “What glory’s like to thee?”Soul of this world, this universe’s eye,No wonder some made thee a deity;Had I not better known, alas, the same had I.

From Contemplations. Bradstreet intended her verse for her family of eight children. Without her knowledge or permission, one of her brothers-in-law carried her early poems to England and had them published in 1650 under the title The Tenth Muse Lately Sprung Up in America, thus making her the first published American poet.